Asus VivoTab ME400 Windows 8 tablet officially unveiled

Asus has officially launched the VivoTab ME400 tablet, one which sports an Intel Atom processor and a full copy of Windows 8.

We had a preview of the tablet at CES a couple of weeks ago and were fairly impressed by the device on offer. As expected, the company dropped the “Smart” moniker and the suffix “C” from its initial name.

The tablet is powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 processor clocked at 1.8GHz with two cores and 1MB L2 cache. It is backed by 2GB of RAM, the maximum the CPU can support, 64GB onboard storage and a microSD card slot.

Other features include an optional TranSleeve docking keyboard, 32GB Asus online cloud-storage for three years, a 10.1in Super IPS+ panel with a 1,366 x 768 pixels resolution, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front facing one, full HD video recording, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, NFC, a microHDMI port, microUSB and four speakers with SonicMaster audio technology.

The battery is a 6,750mAh model which should be enough to power the tablet for up to 10.5 hours. Add in the keyboard docking station to boost the battery life to 19 hours.

As an ultra portable laptop, the VivoTab ME400 weighs 675g and is 8.7mm thick. Asus already has a VivoTab RT tablet in its portfolio, one that has roughly the same specification as the ME400 but swaps the Atom processor for an ARM one and adds Office Home and Student 2013 RT.

Asus is not the only major manufacturer with an Atom-based, Windows 8 hybrid device. Acer launched the Iconia W510 last year and it is available for £476 with a bundle keyboard docking station.